Safety ski binding

ABSTRACT

A safety ski binding which consists mainly of a hollow sole plate attached to the boot of the skier and releasably fastened to two longitudinally spaced brackets on the skis by longitudinally slidable locking pins whose cam-shaped outer ends are received in apertures of the brackets, a spring arrangement being interposed between the inner ends of the pins in the hollow interior of the sole plate. The tension of the spring can be adjusted from the outside by shifting spring seats.

United States Patent Covini [54] SAFETY SKI BINDING [72] Inventor: Lorenzo Covini, Milan, Italy [73] Assignee: Cober Fabbrica Articoli Sportivi,

Milan, Italy 22 Filed: May 27,1970 21 App1.No.: 40,779

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data 51 Oct. 3, 1972 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS Primary Examiner-Benjamin Hersh Assistant Examiner-Milton L. Smith Attorney-Kurt Kelman [5 7] ABSTRACT A safety ski binding which consists mainly of a hollow sole plate attached to the boot of the skier and releasably fastened to two longitudinally spaced brackets on the skis by longitudinally slidable locking pins whose cam-shaped outer ends are received in apertures of the brackets, a spring arrangement being interposed between the inner ends of the pins in the hollow interior of the sole plate. The tension of the spring can be adjusted from the outside by shifting spring seats.

10 Claims, Drawing Figures May 28, 1969 Italy ..17440 A/69 April 14, 1970 Italy ..23280 A/70 [52] U.S. Cl. ..280/11.35 D [51] Int. Cl ..A'63c 9/08 [58] Field of Search ..280/1 1.35

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,606,368 911971 Smolka et al. ..280/11.35 D 3,608,919 9/1971 Lollman et a1. .....280/11.35 R 3,061,325 10/1962 Glass ..280/1 1.35 D

- P'A'TENTEUums m2 3.695.623

sum 2 BF 3 4d INVENTOR. v bonanza -co lmw Mew SAFETY SKI BINDING This invention relates to ski bindings, and particu larly to safety bindings which release the legs of a skier from the skis under stresses which exceed a safe limit.

Known safety ski bindings usually include a toe hold and a heel hold individually adjusted so as to release the front or rear end of a boot from a ski under excessive stresses. The separate adjustment of the two binding components for proper balance is inconvenient. Moreover, the adjusting mechanisms of the known binding arrangements frequently respond differently at different temperatures, and their operation may be affected by a coating of snow or ice.

The primary object of the invention is the provision of a safety binding arrangement in which the toe hold and heel hold are properly balanced at all times, and are adjusted jointly without disturbing their balance.

With this object and others in view, the invention provides two recessed brackets which may be fastened on a ski in a position in which their recesses are spacedly directed substantially toward each other and longitudinally of the ski. A hollow sole plate fits between the fastened brackets and is formed with two bores respectively alignable with the recesses. A locking member is movable in each bore toward and away from a position of camming engagement with an aligned recess of a respective bracket.

A yieldably resilient device or element is interposed in the interior of the sole plate between the two locking members for biasing the same in opposite directions. outward of the associated bores. A stop on each locking member limits such outward movement, and the biasing force of the yieldably resilient device or element may be adjusted from outside the sole plate. Fastening means are provided for fixedly fastening the sole plate to a piece of footwear, such as a ski boot.

Other features, additional objects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will readily become apparent from consideration of the following detailed description of preferred embodiments when considered in connection with the appended drawing in which:

FIG. 1 shows a ski boot fastened by a binding arrangement of the invention to a partially seen ski, the view being in side elevation;

FIG. 2 shows the apparatus of FIG. 1 in plane section through the sole plate of the binding, analogous to the section of FIG. 8;

FIG. 3 illustrates the same arrangement in side-elevational section on the line llI-lll in FIG. 2;

FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 illustrate modifications 'of the arrangement of FIGS. 1 to 3 in fragmentary views corresponding to that of FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 shows yet another binding arrangement of the invention in side elevational section on the line VII- VII in F IG. 8',

FIG. 8 illustrates the arrangement of FIG. 7 in plan section on the line Vlll-Vlll; and

FIG. 9 shows the apparatus of FIG. 8 in rear elevational section on the line lX-IX.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, and initially to FIG. 1, there is seen a wooden ski l on which two metal brackets 2, 3 are mounted by means of screws 2a, 3a (see FIG. 3). A sole plate 4 consisting essentially of plastic is secured on the top surface of the ski 1 between the brackets 2, 3 by means of locking pins 8, 9,

10. An upright wall 4a integral with the sole plate 4 and extending'along the edge of the latter forms a receptacle on the upper face of the sole plate in which a boot 5 is received. The boot is fixedly but releasably fastened to the sole plate 4 by means of toggle clasps 6, 7 at its tow and heel.

As is seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, the generally cylindrical locking pin 8 is axially slidable, longitudinally of the ski 1, in a conforming bore 4b in the tow portion of the sole plate and is movably sealed to the plate 4, as will be shown more explicitly in FIG. 7. The bore 4b leads into an aligned elongated portion of the sole plate cavity 4d which is square in cross section. An annular collar or stop 8a on the pin 8 in the .cavity 4d limits the outward movement of the pin. The outer end of the pin 8 is approximately spherically arcuate and cammingly engages a recess or aperture 2b in the bracket 2.

The two locking pins 9, 10 which project from the heel portion of the sole plate 4 in a common horizontal plane with the pin 8 are closely similar to the latter and limited in their outward movement in bores 40, as described above. Their hemispherical outer ends cammingly engage recesses or apertures 3b in the bracket 3.

The pins 8, 9, 10 are biased outward of the respective bores by a spring assembly including three helical compression springs 11, 12, 13 whose outer ends abut against the collar 8a and corresponding spring seats 9a, 10a on the locking pins 9, 10, respectively with which the associated springs are coaxial. A spindle 15 having right-handed threads and a spindle 16 having lefthanded threads are coaxially connected by a coupling 17. A smooth cylindrical portion 16a of the spindly 16 is joumaled in the sole plate 4 between the pins 9, 10 and projects slightly from the heel portion of the plate, the projecting portion being slotted for engagement by a screw driver or a thin coin.

A yoke 14 is mounted on the threads of the spindle 16 in the hollow interior of the plate 4 and provided with two projections 14a forming spring seats for the inner ends of the springs 12, 13. A square nut 18 on the spindle 15 provides a seat for the inner end of the spring 11. The yoke 14 and the nut 18 are dimensioned so that their rotation about the common axis is prevented by the walls of the plate cavity 4d. When the spindle 16 is turned, the biasing force exerted by the springs 11, 12, 13 on the locking pins 8, 9, 10 is increased or relaxed.

Lateral, upright flanges of the bracket 3 bound a frontal guide face 3c which slopes obliquely forward and downward toward the recesses 3b. A pin 20 which connects the flanges behind the guide face 3c provides a pivot for a bellcrank lever 19. The lever carries two ejector pins 19a normally held against the rounded ends of the locking pins 9, 10 in the apertures 3b by a spring 21 whose force may be adjusted, but is much smaller than that of the springs l l, 12, 13. One arm 19b of the lever 19 is normally horizontal and readily accessible behind the bracket 3.

In the illustrated position, the relatively flexible ripple sole 5a of the boot 5 is held against the top surface of the practically rigid sole plate 4 by the clasps 6, 7, and the boot may be released from the ski 1 and the attached sole plate 4 by opening the clasps. If it is desired to release the boot together with the sole plate from the ski, the lever arm 19b is depressed, whereby the locking pins 9, 10 are released from the bracket 3, and the heel portion of the sole plate may be lifted, thereby eventually disengaging the pin 8 from the bracket 2.

If it is desired again to fasten the sole plate 4 and the attached boot 5 to the ski l, the pin 8 is inserted in the recesses 2b of the toe bracket 2 and the heel end of the sole plate 4 is moved downward. The pins 9, 10 are guided toward the recesses 3b bythe flanges of the bracket 3, and ultimately drop into the recesses. Because of the camming engagement between the spherically tapering ends of the locking pins and the circular, undersized recesses 2b, 3b, the pins are released from the brackets under transverse stresses whose magnitude may be set by means of the accessible spindle 16. When the springs 11, 12, 13 are chosen for the desired balance of toe hold and heel hold, the biasing pressure on all locking pins is adjusted simultaneously by turning the single spindle 16 without upsetting the balance.

FIGS. 4 to 9 illustrate modifications of the aforedescribed arrangement which do not affect the cooperation of the sole plate 4 with the ski 1 nor with the boot 5. The ski and boot have, therefore, been omitted from most of these Figures. The changes relate mainly to the resilient yieldable means which bias the locking pins outward of the sole plate, and to the mechanism provided for adjustment of the biasing force. Elements which have been described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 are provided with the same reference numerals in FIGS. 4 to 9, and will not always be described again.

The modified sole plate 4 shown in FIG. 4 has two co-axial locking pins 22, 23 which project from the tow and heel portions of the sole plate, respectively. A transverse slot 24 in the rounded projecting end of the locking pin 23 admits a screw driver or a thin coin. The cavity 4d of the sole plate is elongated longitudinally of the pins 22, 23 and of square cross section. A square collar 22b fixed on the inner end-22a of the pin 22 prevents rotation of the pin and limits its movement outward of the bore 4b. It also provides a spring seat for a helical compression spring 25 whose other end abuts against a square collar of an internally threaded bushing 23a mounted on the threaded inner end portion 230 of the pin 23, and enveloped by the spring 25. A collar 23b in the cavity 4d separates the smooth outer portion of the pin 23 from the threaded inner portion to provide a stop against outward movement of the pin, and

to limit threaded movement of the bushing 23a in a direction to relax the spring 25. Movement of the bushing in the opposite direction is limited by abutting engagement of the spring turns.

The operation of the sole plate shown in FIG. 4 will be obvious from the above description of FIGS. 1 to 3. The biasing force of the sole spring 25 may be adjusted by turning the locking pin 23.

The sole plate shown in FIG. 5 is formed with a longitudinal passage normally filled with a synthetic rubber composition in which locking pins 26, 27, 28 are partly embedded, only their rounded ends projecting substantially, as described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. A transverse plate 26a on the inner end of the pin 26 at the toe end of the plate and a plate 29 which connects the inner ends of the pins 27, 28 limit outward movement of the pins under the resilient biasing force of the rubber body 30.

The resilient properties of the latter may be adjusted by means of two plates 31, 33 held against lateral walls of the plate cavity in the illustrated condition,but capable of being pushed toward each other by respective set screws 32, 34 accessible from outside the sole plate.

In this embodiment, the locking pins 26, 27, 28 are capable of limited transverse and pivoting movement, which affects their response to stresses in a manner which is predictable and adjustable by means of the set screws 32, 34.

In the sole plate illustrated in FIG. 6, two coaxial locking pins 35, 36 project from the toe and heel ends of the plate under the biasing force of respective helical compression springs 39, 40 interposed between respective spring seats 35a, 36a on the locking pins and spring seats 37a, 38a on two wedges 37, 38 whose cross sections, as seen in FIG. 6,,are closely similar to rectangular triangles, the hypotenuses facing each other. Another wedge 41 having the cross sectional shape of an isoceles trapezoid is interposed between the wedges 37, 38 and may be shifted transversely of the direction of axial locking pin movement by means of a threaded spindle 42a journaled in the sole plate and having a slotted head 42 which is accessible from the outside by means of a screwdriver inserted in an opening 43 normally closed by a removable plug 44. The biasing force exerted on the locking pins 35, 36 is adjusted by turning the spindle 42a. 9

The embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 7 to 9 is closely similar to and partly identical with that described above with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3, except for the spring arrangement.

A single, heavy helical compression spring 11 is arranged between the collar 8a on the locking pin 8 at the tow end of the heel plate 4 and a nut 18 on the threaded spindle 15 coupled to a smooth spindle 16 by a coupling 17 which also provides an abutment for a yoke 14 freely movable on the spindle 16. The -yoke transmits the pressure of the spring 11 to the locking pins 9, 10 in the heel portion of the sole plate by means of projections 14a.

Rotation of the yoke 14 is prevented by the dimensions of the sole plate cavity 4d. Rotation of the nut 18 is prevented by an integral, plate shaped rib 18a which radially extends into a slot 51 in the left or outer side of the sole plate. The slot is sealed from the atmosphere by an opaque plate 52 having a row of openings 54 and by a transparent plate 53 which covers the opaque plate. Depending on the axial position of the nut 18 on the spindle 15, a dark coating 18b on the rib 18a is visible from the outside in one or more of the openings 54, thereby providing an indication of the biasing force exerted by the spring 11 on the locking pins. This force may be adjusted by turning the accessible slotted head 16a of the spindle 16.

The hollow interior of the sole plate 4 is normally filled at least in part with a lubricant grease or oil to keep out water and protect the operating elements. The lubricant may be supplied or replenished through an access opening 57 which is normally plugged, as shown in FIG. 7. Sealing rings 56 are provided on the locking pins 8, 9, l0 and on the'spindle 16 to keep the lubricant in and water out, and it will be understood that all other embodiments are similarly sealed and provided with lubrication, as not explicitly shown in FIGS. 1 to 6 for the sake of clarity.

It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing disclosure relates only to preferred embodiments of the invention, and that it is intended to cover all changes and modifications of the examples of the invention herein chosen for the purpose of the disclosure which do not constitute departures from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A ski binding arrangement comprising in combination:

a. two recessed brackets;

b. fastening means for spacedly fastening said brackets on a ski in a position in which the recesses of the same are directed substantially toward each other and longitudinally of the ski;

c. a hollow sole plate member dimensioned to fit between the fastened brackets and formed with two bores respectively alignable with said recesses;

d. a locking member movable in each bore toward and away from a position of camming engagement with an aligned recess of a respective one of said brackets;

e. a single yieldably resilient means interposed in the interior of said plate member between said locking members for biasing said locking members in opposite directions outward of said bores for permitting independent or simultaneous movement of said locking members;

f. adjusting means operable from outside said plate member for varying the biasing force of said yieldably resilient means; and

fastening means for fixedly fastening said sole plate member to a piece of footwear.

2. An arrangement as set forth in claim 1, further comprising an ejector member movably mounted on one of said brackets, and operating means for moving said ejector member into the recess of said one bracket member in a direction to eject the associated locking member from said recess against the restraint of said yieldably resilient means.

3. An arrangement as set forth in claim 1, further comprising two spring seats on said locking members respectively, said yieldably resilient means including a spring member interposed between said spring seats, said adjusting means including means for shifting one of said spring seats on the associated locking member in the direction of movement of the locking member in response to rotation of said one locking member about an axis extending in the direction of movement of said one locking member.

4. An arrangement as set forth in claim 1, wherein said yieldably resilient means includes a body of resilient material, and said adjusting means includes means for applying pressure to a portion of said body intermediate said locking members in a direction transverse to the direction of movement of said locking members.

5. An arrangement as set forth in claim 1, further comprising indicating means for indicating the magnitude of said biasing force.

6. An arrangement as set forth in claim 1, wherein said plate member is formed with an access openin to said ollow interior thereof, the arrangement fur er comprising a plug member releasably retained in said access opening.

7. An arrangement as set forth in claim 1, further comprising a normally upright wall fixed on said plate member and defining a receptacle open in a direction transverse to the direction of movement of said locking members and adapted to receive said piece of footwear when fastened to said sole plate member by said fastening means.

8. An arrangement as set forth in claim 1, further comprising stop means on each locking member for limiting outward movement of the locking member.

9. An arrangement as set forth in claim 1 wherein said adjusting means is a threaded, rotatable adjusting member.

10. An arrangement as set forth in claim 9 wherein there is further included a threaded member engaging said rotatable adjusting member for movement in opposite respective directions when the adjusting means is turned, said threaded member having spring seats for receiving two spring members interposed relative to two locking members for engagement with one of said brackets. 

1. A ski binding arrangement comprising in combination: a. two recessed brackets; b. fastening means for spacedly fastening said brackets on a ski in a position in which the recesses of the same are directed substantially toward each other and longitudinally of the ski; c. a hollow sole plate member dimensioned to fit between the fastened brackets and formed with two bores respectively alignable with said recesses; d. a locking member movable in each bore toward and away from a position of camming engagement with an aligned recess of a respective one of said brackets; e. a single yieldably resilient means interposed in the iNterior of said plate member between said locking members for biasing said locking members in opposite directions outward of said bores for permitting independent or simultaneous movement of said locking members; f. adjusting means operable from outside said plate member for varying the biasing force of said yieldably resilient means; and g. fastening means for fixedly fastening said sole plate member to a piece of footwear.
 2. An arrangement as set forth in claim 1, further comprising an ejector member movably mounted on one of said brackets, and operating means for moving said ejector member into the recess of said one bracket member in a direction to eject the associated locking member from said recess against the restraint of said yieldably resilient means.
 3. An arrangement as set forth in claim 1, further comprising two spring seats on said locking members respectively, said yieldably resilient means including a spring member interposed between said spring seats, said adjusting means including means for shifting one of said spring seats on the associated locking member in the direction of movement of the locking member in response to rotation of said one locking member about an axis extending in the direction of movement of said one locking member.
 4. An arrangement as set forth in claim 1, wherein said yieldably resilient means includes a body of resilient material, and said adjusting means includes means for applying pressure to a portion of said body intermediate said locking members in a direction transverse to the direction of movement of said locking members.
 5. An arrangement as set forth in claim 1, further comprising indicating means for indicating the magnitude of said biasing force.
 6. An arrangement as set forth in claim 1, wherein said plate member is formed with an access opening to said hollow interior thereof, the arrangement further comprising a plug member releasably retained in said access opening.
 7. An arrangement as set forth in claim 1, further comprising a normally upright wall fixed on said plate member and defining a receptacle open in a direction transverse to the direction of movement of said locking members and adapted to receive said piece of footwear when fastened to said sole plate member by said fastening means.
 8. An arrangement as set forth in claim 1, further comprising stop means on each locking member for limiting outward movement of the locking member.
 9. An arrangement as set forth in claim 1 wherein said adjusting means is a threaded, rotatable adjusting member.
 10. An arrangement as set forth in claim 9 wherein there is further included a threaded member engaging said rotatable adjusting member for movement in opposite respective directions when the adjusting means is turned, said threaded member having spring seats for receiving two spring members interposed relative to two locking members for engagement with one of said brackets. 